Decline and Fall

Absolutely brilliant adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's biting satire of British personalities. Douglas Hodge's performance is a comedic tour de force!! Jack Whitehall is perfectly cast, as are all of the other "character" actors. The only misstep was in casting Eva Longoria...her performance is rather grating. I say, it's a " must watch" for those who are fans of British comedy!

This must have been one of the last performances of TPS. Surprised this was not acknowledged in the credits. A great loss of a great actor. First came to my attention in the wonderful adaptation of Paul Scott's "Jewel in the Crown" novels. Admired for many roles since. I had tickets to see him in Northampton this April which sadly had to be returned. Condolences to friends and family.

Anyone saying this series is poor needs a good whacking. I laughed through the whole bit and was very entertained. If you read a bit of history and study the schools of the time, 1920's, the series reflects the true history of UK education. This was very enjoyable and I look forwards to more from this capable group of producers.

This is perhaps the most pretentious and outrageous farce in British style. I think the British simply mistake and fail to distinguish the thin line between comedy and farce, and of course, this is the ultimate farce that I've ever watched. Every thing and every moment in this series were just so over the top ridiculed and exaggerated. If this is what we called "The English Humor", then don't bother. Even it's only three episodes, with so many cast and manpower involved, the production fund and budget were simply moronically wasted. I felt myself so stupid when I watched the first episode and decided to jump out of the plane by my own will; I'd rather crash down to earth instead.

Mr Paul Pennyfather is an educated and accomplished fellow who starts off his career at Oxford but doesn't last long due to the students' bullying and a rigid structure which he struggles to adapt to.

He realises he is not ready for Oxford and gets transferred to a private school on request. There he falls in love with one of the pupil's parents and his life really changes.

It's got a lot of sharp twists and good old-fashioned narrative drama with some superb acting especially the brilliant Stephen Graham as Philbrick; Douglas Hodge as Grimes; David Suchet as Dr. Fagan and Eva Logoria playing the love interest who is Margot Beste-Chetwynde!

The drama has a lot of twists and turns and our Paul really does end up in so many different spots of bother! It's hard to review without giving the story away as so much of it is based on narrative but it is a great show and a thoroughly enjoyable although not too realistic period piece!

A strong 7/10.